doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Scoping a Ruger #1 .45/70

Excuse my modern pedestrian question, but my eyes are aging (56) and against my inner wishes I've been thinking of scoping a few. What would you think best for the rifle mentioned in the subject line? All suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

Hello Krakow Kid,

Before you do anything else, I'd suggest you have a word with a good opthalmist i.e. one who shoots, he will have a better understanding of your problem and will be better able to help you out.

You don't say what you propose using your rifle for, but I presume it is hunting. Given that the trajectory of a .45/70 bullet is like that of a rainbow, you may have to restrict the range you are shooting over, or you may not have enough adjustment on a 'scope' to get the bullet out (accurately) to where you want it.

Just my own thoughts.

Harry

What is it you want to know? The rugers come with a fairly decent base and rings. I shortened the stock to get the proper eye reliefe on two .458 tropicals so that they were comfortable enough to shoot ground hoggs. Both .458s were more acurate than a 25/06 varmint I had. Now i have none of it. Im going to put a central receiver sight on my next Ruger. A scope does give you a better look at what you are shooting at. With a proper load the 45/70 will shoot with the best of them.What you are shooting dosnt care how big the bullet is, its where it hits.
Have fun
Tom

I have never owned a No.1, held a few. Having said that I have read they can be hard to scope because of the eye relief problem. I found this out while researching a scope I had that seemed very long and had the turret far forward. It's an old Burris (early 1990's) Fullfield 1.75x5. It has no objective bell and the turret is 1/3 back from front. It's a rather long scope so it works well with No.1's and break open guns. The 1.75x5 range is good for a 45-70 also.

I once thought of buying a No.1 just for this scope but it ended up fitting very well on an Austin Halleck ML I have.

I use a Leupold 1x-4x for longer eye relief, it's comfortable when mounted further forward. Also, Burris used to make a small short 6x with long eye relief and no objective bell, it's another one of my favorites for rifles needing longer eye relief.
Regards, Joe

Thanks, Joe - You showed the ability to read my mind at a distance of time and space and provide the answer(s) said mind was seeking out. Well done, I appreciate it.

My eyes are already aged but I find a receiver or tang mounted peep accommodates that just fine on my single shot and also lever guns. You might want to put a thicker bead or post out front. A Number 1 with a scope just plain looks and carries wrong to my taste. Interesting combination is a peep with a fairly large aperture and another aperture for the front sight. I can line that up real well.

I have used the Weaver V3 in similar situations; it has very long eye relief, and I'm only using a scope because of aging eyes, as mentioned. So I shoot at "iron sight" ranges as we used to call them. V3 is cheap, light, and sturdy, all of which I like. Also looks OK on a traditional rifle. You need to make sure you have plenty of eyebrow clearance on a .45-70; I speak as one of the "half moon club"....

Thanks Jerry and Mike, good points all and a good laugh (half moon club) thrown in. Pretty good!

At the time I joined, I weren't laughing. I tried out a friend's 1S with a 3x9 variable on it and forgot that he's a basset and I'm a beagle. Ow.